TRIALS: The Reckoning

In silence, the eight women and four men
filed into the jury box. From his seat, Alger Hiss looked at each one,
his lips set in a tight smile. None returned his look. Priscilla Hiss
fingered her handbag, stared straight ahead.

The court clerk spoke in the courtroom, hush: "Madam Foreman, have you
and the members of the jury agreed on a verdict?"

"I have," said Mrs. Ada Condell selfconsciously.

"How say you?"

"I find the defendant guilty on the first count and guilty on the second
count," said Mrs. Condell.

Hiss's face paled. His wife's cheek twitched. The eyes of a young
defense...